The pulmonary homograft as aortic valve substitute: 7 years' follow up.

Objective: The advantages of the aortic valve homograft high resistance to infective endocarditis, low risk of thromboembolism, low gradient and excellent long term results are well known. Trying to extend these advantages to a greater number of patients, we used pulmonary homografts as aortic valve substitute, based on the experimental evidence, that they can withstand the higher stress in systemic circulation.

Methods: From September 1988 to August 1994 175 patients (103 men, 72 women, mean age 61.

Unorthodox diagnostic procedure in a rare case of intrapericardial malignant schwannoma.

To establish preoperatively the cytology of a large right atrial tumour, an echoguided transcutaneous thin needle aspiration using a transhepatic approach was performed. Cytology suggested myxoma, which had been mimicked by regressive changes within the tumour, while the histologic examination of the removed specimen revealed a malignant pericardial Schwannoma. In spite of this discrepancy we think that solid tumours located at the free atrial wall are accessible to ultrasound guided puncture without great risk.